State GOP chief tackles party's big debt

New Houston chairman trying to keep the party out of bankruptcy

Steve Munisteri wants the Texas Republican Party to shore up its finances.

Steve Munisteri wants the Texas Republican Party to shore up its finances.

Photo: Handout Photo

Photo: Handout Photo

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Steve Munisteri wants the Texas Republican Party to shore up its finances.

Steve Munisteri wants the Texas Republican Party to shore up its finances.

Photo: Handout Photo

State GOP chief tackles party's big debt

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Even as Texas Republicans anticipate soul-stirring victories across the state this fall, their party faces the baleful prospect of immediate bankruptcy.

Steve Munisteri, the retired Houston lawyer who was elected chairman at the party's state convention in Dallas last weekend, knew it was bad. Party finances were a major issue in his campaign to unseat Cathie Adams, the longtime conservative activist who had taken over as party chairwoman just eight months ago. What he didn't realize, he said, is that he would be working 18-hour days his first week in office — and for the immediate future - just to keep the lights on.

"Although nothing really surprised me, it's much worse than was portrayed," he said by phone on Friday.

According to the latest filing with the Federal Election Commission, the party had $264,863 cash on hand and $501,174 in debt. Munisteri said the party actually owed $605,835. The Republican National Committee recently paid a bill worth $134,000, he said; otherwise, the RPT would owe $739,000.

"I have both a big debt, and we're losing money every month," he said.

His predecessor, a firebrand activist and former head of the Texas Eagle Forum, could not be reached for comment, although she told convention delegates in her campaign pitch last weekend that she had raised $1.9 million during her brief tenure as chairwoman and had paid down the debt by 41 percent. Nevertheless, she lost to Munisteri, who, in a rare floor fight, took 59 percent of the votes from more than 7,000 delegates who took part in the balloting.

California funding model

Choosing his words carefully, Munisteri said that Adams lacked fundraising and administrative experience. "No attention was paid to fundraising other than direct mail and telemarketing," he said. "California, just to give you an example, has four full-time staff members that do nothing but work on high-dollar donors."

Munisteri said that he would like to implement a three-pronged fundraising effort tailored to grass-roots contributors, midlevel donors and high-dollar donors, but he faces a classic dilemma: "I don't have the money to hire the people to raise the money."

The RPT employs nine people at its Austin office across the street from the Capitol, none of them dedicated to fundraising, Munisteri said. None are being paid at the moment, and neither is the new chairman. "It's costing me money," he said.

They include big-ticket donors who can retire a sizeable portion of the debt simply by writing out a check and the resources of Victory 2010, a grass-roots fundraising and get-out-the-vote effort chaired by state Comptroller Susan Combs. He'll also woo elements of the party who might have been unhappy with his predecessor's take-no-prisoners approach on social-conservative issues.

"Steve was a successful lawyer who ran a successful law firm," Woodfill said. "He has the ability and experience to take the situation and make it better. That's what he campaigned on."

Worked for McCain

Munisteri, who's been involved in Republican Party politics since 1972, said he looks forward to overcoming the immediate fiscal crisis so he can begin implementing ambitious outreach efforts that, in his view, are key to the party's future in Texas.

Working in Iowa for Arizona Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential bid, he said he was impressed with the organizational efforts of McCain's Democratic opponent.

"The Obama people ran a tremendous campaign," he said. "In fact, they're never out of their campaign mode."

Minority outreach

Munisteri, a founder of the Young Conservatives of Texas in 1981, said he would like to organize ongoing outreach efforts in Texas, with an emphasis on minority voters.

"We're losing the Hispanic vote, and Texas will be a Democratic state if we lose the Hispanic vote," he said. "But I can't put any of these programs in effect in any meaningful way while I'm trying to keep the lights on."

He said he had raised $42,000 during his first week as chairman and hoped to raise $300,000 immediately.

The 52-year-old former lawyer, who is divorced, said he has rented a one-bedroom apartment in Austin with no phone and no TV, where he plans to spend four days a week, the other three in Houston.

"I've had no break from the campaign," he said, "and I won't have one until the debt is 100 percent retired."